Abstract:

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the position of the staff representative in the top management of the educational organization. The specific goal is to point out the possibilities of the staff representative on the board of the university of applied sciences (UAS) to influence the structure of teaching, pedagogical orientation, the quality of teaching and the resources used for it.

The article also presents practical actions with which the staff representative can increase the effectiveness of her or his work on the board. In addition to providing teaching expertise and the views of the teacher community, active communication with the students and the student union is emphasized.

The theme interviews of the teacher representatives elected by the staff build the basis for the purpose, goal and proposals presented in the article. Experiences, views, and visions are examined in the light of the laws governing the matter and other official documents, especially the preparatory material and the government bill for the University of Applied Sciences Act (932/2014).

According to the law, all universities of applied sciences (except the Police UAS under the Ministry of the Interior) had to be transformed into limited liability companies (LLC). The purpose of an LLC is to generate profits for the shareholders. The core task of the UAS, in turn, is teaching based on applied sciences. This creates tension that is constantly present in the work of the UAS board. The staff representative has a special responsibility to bring pedagogical perspectives to the agenda. On the other hand, she or he is also expected to defend the working conditions of teachers and other staff.

At the same time, the form of a limited company brings significant financial responsibilities and risks to an individual member of the board. In addition, the staff member has a dual position: she or he is a member of the body that directs and supervises the work of the rector-CEO, and at the same time, she or he is subordinate to the rector.

This setup makes the status of the staff representative demanding, but also exceptionally interesting.

The elected person must have access to the knowledge that the previous staff representative has gathered. These considerations may also be of interest to a wider audience, especially those working in the field of higher education administration.

The theoretical basis is resource dependency theory. Moreover, the main themes of the principal-agent theory are considered.

Keywords:

University of Applied Sciences, Limited Liability Company, Board Member.